


Limbo

by thewightknight



Series: First Order Husbands [4]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015), Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: M/M, angry space boyfriends, first order husbands
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-17
Updated: 2016-01-17
Packaged: 2018-05-14 11:19:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,664
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5741767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thewightknight/pseuds/thewightknight
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Hux knew his mind was bare before Snoke, and the longer they went without words from the Supreme Leader the more convinced he became that he was soon to be a dead man. It was under his command that Starkiller Base had been destroyed, after all, and he’d compounded that failure with his involvement with Ren afterwards.  Any second now, he expected to feel an invisible hand grip his throat.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Limbo

There was nothing about the burnt out cinder orbiting the red giant deep in the Unknown Regions that stood out, that indicated it was anything other than a nameless rock until you scanned it. Even then, at first glance it looked like an abandoned mining station. It wouldn't be until you dropped into orbit around the planet and did a deep scan that you would notice your instruments couldn't penetrate more than a few meters beneath the surface, and by then it would be too late. The gun turrets disguised in the old mining structures would have powered up, locked on, and fired in the space of a breath. 

Even though they were expected, in a recognizable ship, and had all the proper codes, the atmosphere in the cockpit was still tense until they were acknowledged and a section of the planet’s surface sank to reveal a docking bay.

They disembarked and were escorted immediately to the Supreme Leader’s chamber. Snoke’s hologram was larger than life. In person, although both Hux and Ren would have towered over him if they’d been standing, although his body was twisted and wizened, the force of his presence as he loomed over them on his throne dwarfed them. Or at least, it dwarfed Hux. Ren’s face was blank as he stared back at his master and Hux had no clue what he might be thinking.

Snoke let them stand without speaking and Hux fought not to fidget, kept his gaze steady, even though his heart was pounding and he could feel sweat trickling down his forehead. He knew his mind was bare before Snoke and the longer they went without words from the Supreme Leader the more convinced he became that he was soon to be a dead man. It was under his command that Starkiller Base had been destroyed, after all, and he’d compounded that failure with his involvement with Ren afterwards. Any second now he expected to feel an invisible hand grip his throat.

Finally Snoke broke the silence. “The _Finalizer_ has been sweeping the remains of Starkiller base searching for you, General Hux. They have been informed of your safe arrival and that you will be remaining here to assume command of this base.”

It took a few seconds for Snoke’s words to register. Hux blinked, shook his head. “Sir?” he asked.

“That will be all, General.” The dismissal was clear. Hux bowed and turned to leave, sneaking a glance at Ren as he did so, but Ren’s attention was focused on the Supreme Leader and his look wasn’t returned.

Just as he exited the chamber he heard Ren speak. “I would not be standing here if it weren’t for General Hux’s efforts …” but the rest of the sentence was lost as the doors closed behind him.

An escort of troopers stood at attention just outside the chamber. “Sir!” they all saluted as he came to a halt in front of them. He returned the salute and instructed them to lead the to the base’s command center.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Within two days Hux was bored out of his skull. The defenses manned themselves, the troopers, all two hundred of them, were scared into one hundred percent perfect behavior, what with being so close to the Supreme Leader, and after reviewing troop rosters and personnel records he found he had absolutely nothing to do, the base ran so smoothly. 

It didn’t help that Ren was nowhere to be found for an entire week. Hux hadn’t seen him since he was dismissed from the Supreme Leader’s presence. Where he was and what he was doing were a complete mystery. A surreptitious crawl through the base’s systems revealed that no quarters had been assigned to him and at no time during Hux’s interminable pacing through the base did he ever appear. Hux had to laugh at himself when he found he was thinking of destroyed control panels with something approaching nostalgia.

While there was no sign of Ren, there was entirely too much of the Supreme Leader’s presence for Hux’s comfort. Snoke had taken to summoning him every afternoon, asking him for status reports. Why, he had no idea, as he never had anything of import to report.

_Day one:_

“I am reviewing the personnel records of the troopers stationed here, Supreme leader.”

“Very good, General Hux.”

_Day two:_

“I have finished reviewing the personnel records for the troopers stationed here, Supreme Leader. They are truly the best of the best. My father would have approved.”

“Very good, General Hux.”

_Day three:_

“I’ve begun a comprehensive review of all the systems on the base, to assure they are operating at peak efficiency.”

“Very good, General Hux.”

_Day four:_

“It seems one of the atmospheric regulators was only operating at 98%. That has been remedied, Supreme Leader.”

“Very good, General Hux.”

_Day five:_

"I detected a minor short in the weapons system. Once it was identified, it was tracked down and repaired in under five minutes."

“Very good, General Hux.”

_Day six:_

“I have completed my review of the base’s systems, Supreme Leader. The base is operating at peak efficiency.”

“Very good, General Hux.”

Every day, his reports were acknowledged by those four words, followed by a wave of the Supreme Leader’s hand, a casual dismissal. He was frustrated, tense, on edge, and his current temper was not improved by flashbacks to his childhood, standing in front of his father in such a way, having his accomplishments dismissed and his talents belittled.

He waited on the seventh day, the close of his first week at this unnamed hidden fortress on the edges of space, but on this day he received no summons from Snoke. Their meetings never had a set hour, occurring sometime after the noon hour but before dinner, the randomness of them another aggravation to Hux’s well-ordered mind. The hours passed and every time a trooper approached he steeled himself, and at first when they continued on their rounds instead of delivering the expected message he breathed a sigh of relief, but as the hours continued to tick by he realized that not being called in to report was even more worrisome to him than the pointless recitation of his day under Snoke’s scrutiny.

Dinner came and went and he picked at his food. He made his regular rounds of the base, finding everything still in the perfect order it had been the first time he did so. He spent an extra hour in the gym, pushing himself to exhaustion and beyond and then still lay in bed staring at the ceiling, doing breathing exercises, trying to will himself to sleep. Finally, sometime during the ninth or tenth cycle of the exercise he drifted off, only to bolt awake in the middle of the night, all his senses on alert, sure he was no longer alone in his room. Was that movement he saw in the dim light from the clock display? He heard a rustle of cloth and tensed, then relaxed at a feather-light touch against his lips.

“Ren?”

There was a muffled sound in response, not actually words, but he recognized the voice and laid back, listening to the sounds of clothes falling to the floor, the creak of his bed as Ren slid under the covers beside him. As he laid back an arm snuck around his waist and a head settled on his shoulder, and within moments Ren’s breathing slowed. Had he truly fallen asleep so quickly? Hux shifted, finding a more comfortable position for his arm, and Ren murmured, snuggling in closer then falling silent again. Hesitant, he brought his hand up, let it rest on the curve of Ren’s hip. Lying there, listening to Ren’s soft breathing, he drifted back into sleep himself. 

He awoke alone in bed the next morning. He would have thought it was a dream except for the single dark hair he found on his pillow.

It happened again a few nights later, except this time he woke when Ren rose to leave. He tightened his arms around Ren briefly in protest, pressing a kiss to his shoulder before letting go.

The third time Ren was still lying beside him when his alarm sounded. He had it programmed not to respond to verbal commands and had to reach across Ren to toggle it off. He slapped the button and let his arm fall, taking the time to savor the warmth pressed up against him as Ren murmured in protest at his movements. In a split second he made a command decision. There were no rosters, no schedules on this base. There was no one who would say a word if he didn’t begin his rounds at his usual time, if they even noticed, as he never began in the same place two days in a row. Today he was going to take advantage of that.

Ren had similar thoughts, it seemed, or he’d read Hux’s intentions, because when he leaned in for a kiss Ren rose up to meet him, lips parted, an invitation Hux couldn’t resist. He’d abandoned his sleeping clothes after Ren’s first nighttime visit and nothing separated the touch of skin on skin as Ren melted into him, arching into the touch of his hands. Warm fingers dug into his shoulders as phantom ones ghosted along his spine, through his hair, and he shuddered under their touch. As Ren trembled and moaned beneath him he marveled at how they’d come to this in such a short time.

He was two hours late, according to his personal schedule, when he finally made it out of his quarters. Ren had drifted back to sleep as he dressed, barely stirring at Hux’s curses when he realized the collar of his uniform wouldn’t cover the bruises on his neck. With a sigh, Hux squared his shoulders and headed out, grateful that his troopers’ reactions would be hidden beneath their helmets and he would be able to pretend they weren’t staring.

**Author's Note:**

> We've gone how many weeks without Ren destroying anything? I think he's avoiding thinking about anything at all right now. That'll probably change as this continues.
> 
> Feel free to come say hi over on [tumblr](http://thewightknight.tumblr.com/).
> 
> P.S. be sure to check out the [outtake](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5979409) for this part.


End file.
